Friday, February 02, 2007

Just Off The Las Vegas Strip

Yep, that's right...the How Great Is Our God Tour landed within a few blocks of the strip Monday night and it was a beautiful sight. 2100 people packed out what may be one of the largest Christian concerts ever for Vegas and all I can say is, among many other anthems, the song of redemption is rising up from the glittering strip.

The night is built around the idea that though God is big enough to create the Universe, he is also intimately involved with the smallest (and biggest) details of our lives...and promises to hold us together no matter what circumstances we face. Months ago, as we were praying about the night, we had a deep desire to serve people in the most desperate places in life.

We have met some of those folks along the way, but others we may never know about are in the crowd each night. This came the day after our Vegas stop....

How Great Is Our God??? Let me just share - Our kids gave my husband and Itickets to what I thought was a Chris Tomlin concert. We were very excited,but when our 22-year-old son, Joshua, was involved in a car accidentSaturday evening and admitted to the hospital unresponsive (he remains in acoma), we weren't sure whether we would attend. Though we know nothing isoutside of God's hand, after two days in ICU, we were in need of a breatherso we decided to attend. I was speechless to find Matt Redman and LouieGiglio. You see, "How Great Is Our God" revived us, refreshed usand freed our hearts to worship. The music (my son does a lot of what weheard for worship at church) and the message (about this great God'sinvolvement all the way to Laminin) just confirmed what we have been sayingsince the accident - God is in control!!! We have had God's unexplainablepeace throughout, and last night in Las Vegas encouraged us to continue to"run and not be weary". He truly lifted us up on eagle's wingslast night! By the way, it appears Joshua began recognizing voices whilewe were at the concert (his brother, a friend and one of his sisters werewith him) and this morning he opened his good eye! We are thrilled at themiracles of God, too numerous to recite here (this is long enough already). The story Louie told of the mother with her young disabled son in awheelchair worshipping spoke profoundly to me. Thanks, Louie, Chris andMatt and the band and the tech guys for an amazing night!

I've been in touch with Joshua's mom and he has quite a long road ahead with operations this coming week and the process where they will try to wake him up. Please keep them in your prayers and we will attempt to let you know how things progress.

God knows who is walking through the doors each night and what they need most. Thank you to all who are praying for our journey. We feel your prayers, as do countless others like Joshua's mom and dad who are worshipping with us.

Even though the lights of Las Vegas can be seen from all over the valley, it is a city full of darkness and sin. Thank you for taking some of God's beautiful and perfect light to shine there and renew and refresh the faith of believers! I absolutely cannot wait until the tour comes to my hometown (St. Louis).

May God bless all of you as you proclaim God's Truth across our nation!

Reading & typing this comment gives me the goosebumps. Not because Im surprised that God works in peoples lives but because of the experience & the assurance that our God is alive and He is so close to us. Praise God! He is beyond words...thank you Louie for sharing this story... thank you also to Vicky for leading us in the intercessory team for reminding to continually pray for the tour and that is - God's Global Movement. He's just beyond awesome! He's beyond real!

it's amazing to see different people connecting with God through the tour. it seems to be all in God's perfect timing. i pray that many more will see and experience God through the music and message in the nights to come and that He will sustain you every step of the way.

Praise the Lord! Thank you for How Great Your Are! I am praying for you-Joshua's family- may God's neverending love surround you with His peace! I pray for Louie, Matt, and Chris on this tour, may it be very special for all involved, and may Our Great God above all be glorifed in all they do and say!I cannot wait until you come to Lansing, Michigan! :) God Bless

To steal from Louie's favorite phrases, it's so awesome to see everyone leaning into prayer for whatever brothers and sisters need. I'll definitely pray for Joshua and his family, as well as continue praying for the guys to be thrown in the path of all the people who are ready to hear and respond to the truth of Jesus Christ.

How Great is our God!! The concert was amazing...I really feel that the glory of God shone in Vegas that night, outshone the brightest in the "city of lights." While many came from Vegas, there were many of us who made an hour and a half drive to come out from Southern Utah. Chris, Matt, and Louie are doing amazing things for the glory of God. Praise God for his glory and his beautiful news that can shine anywhere, even "Sin City." To all you out there waiting for the tour if you're expecting a concert, forget it. This was a full on worship experience with an amazing talk from Louie in between.

God bless all of you out there...Remember whatever you do, do for the glory of God!

YEsterday evening in Houston was indeed a special time of worship. Thank you... not bc of your great talents and abilities, but for your willingness to step aside and let the Lord of Lords move and speak through you! Everytime I hear someone say "Louie is the man!" i think, yeah, he is... but only bc he knows he isnt the star of this story! Blessings!

Made it to the Dallas concert! Woohoo!! And went to the Frequency gathering before hand. The Lord has taught me so much through you guys, I am so grateful. Thank you for your hearts that really do want to lift up Christ.

Along the same lines as forget about expecting a concert... I know we are to worship and focus on the Lord in whatever is going on in our lives, and that's the whole point for you guys in what you do--love that and agree wholeheartedly. So I found it interesting that at certain moments in the evening I'd say, "Kayleen, take this in--you're actually seeing these people in person!" But then the other half of me would come back with, "But ya know, it's ok if you're not, keep worshipping God, you're not here for that anyway." It's God Who turns our hearts to Him, but I so appreciate how you seek to be so God-centered and direct our attention to Him. And while it was amazing to see you in person, I am grateful the Lord blessed my evening to be centered more around HIM than you guys. Thank you for directing us to THE Superstar. :) A great night of worship.

And I don't know about y'all, but the My Chains Are Gone moment was one of the best in the whole evening. All the music was great, though, all a blessing. Couldn't have been better opening with Your Grace Is Enough, too. And loved how you brought up Laminin again, Mr. Giglio. And tell Chris thanks for remembering those of us way up in the nosebleed section-that was very nice. :)

And thank you, Mr. Giglio, for sharing what has happened in the other cities. It's a blessing to be able to pray for folks specifically.

I could go on, but I better not hog the blog. :) Thanks again, blessings, and Praise the Lord! Indeed our God is great and wonderful! May we know and worship Him in Truth!

I really really wanted to be in Houston last night, but doors kept closing, and it didn't work out. I admit I was somewhat sad, and wasn't sure why I couldn't have gone. Now I know! I have a good friend who's in St. Louis right now at an eating disorder treatment center. When I talked to her on the phone last week, I suddenly remembered that I thought I'd seen St. Louis on the tour dates! Sure enough, it's there, and when I checked my calendar, it happens to be right over my Spring Break! My friend will be almost ready to come home by that time, and I plan to drive up there and take her to Family Arena that night. I'm so excited! Praise the Lord for closing one door to open a much better one! Louie, Chris and Matt, I'm praying for you guys for the duration of the tour, and I'll see you St. Louis!!

Louie, i cannot tell you enough how much I love the 268 generation! It just keeps growing and growing. God is so good!I cannot stop singing His praise...i've had a countless number of songs on my lips tonight (uncreated One, glory in the highest, amazing grace, everlasting God, how can i keep from singing...the list goes on and on!!!) God has been so good to me, and I pray that He uses me someday to lead His people in worship, whether it's 4 people at a Bible study or an entire generation. i want to do His will :)

Passion 07 was so incredible that I just have to go to the HGIOG tour...see you in NYC!

Joshua, mom, family, doctors, Father God, we lift them all up to you. They are all in Your hands; every single one of them; every second of every day. Father, use Joshua's accident for YOUR glory in the lives of many; bring glory to YOUR name!

Father, let the HSIC tour travel safely all over the world; be with Matt as he takes a break this week, and with the other two as they keep traveling. Let no wind be too cold, and no snow be too deep to travel through. Bring those who need to hear your message safely to the events. Change hearts and lives, Father. We're all Yours.